Pirates release Xavier Paul

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

The Pirates have released outfielder Xavier Paul, who was recently taken off the roster when the Pirates needed to add prospects in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. Paul cleared waivers, leaving the Pirates no choice but to grant him his unconditional release. The Pirates did not have the option of outrighting Paul to the Minors.

Though GM Neal Huntington said the Pirates were interested in bringing Paul back as a bench player next year, the Pirates aren’t going to have that luxury. Because Paul was released during this particular time period, he is not eligible to re-sign with Pittsburgh until May 16. He will explore the free agent market in the meantime and should sign with another club this offseason.

Paul appeared in 121 games with the Pirates in 2011, which most of those appearances coming as a late-inning defensive substitution. Paul hit .254 and swiped 16 bases.

4 Comments

Didn’t Neal Huntington know before Paul was put on waivers that they wouldn’t be able to re-sign him until May 16 if he cleared? I just don’t know they’d talk about bringing him back if there was no chance. I’m assuming that I’m just missing something regarding the process here…

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.